I live in a small northern ontario cummunity and I am a cashier at the grocery store. Often natives come in and buy hair spray or mouth wash, and I never know what to do. So I just sell it to them.
Should I be saying something? Or refusing to sell? Are there laws against this?
What would anyone else do? Opinions please?

Do they tell you how they use these products? If not, how do you know they are misusing them?

It is none of your business. I live in Ontario too. Unless you want to report it to the local authorities. Or a band member who will monitor the situation.

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Originally Posted by tickle

It is none of your business. I live in Ontario too. Unless you want to report it to the local authorities. Or a band member who will monitor the situation.

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In other words, it is a native problem and they prefer to deal with their own.

So you're prejudice against natives and you assume that they're using these products for purposes other than they're intended use. That's really the bottom line.

If you own the store you can pick your clientele. It's not a smart thing to do as it limits your sales to those people you hand pick to shop in your store, but if you own the store, and don't care about profit, you can refuse to sell to anyone you want.

If you're just a cashier, work for the store, you have no right to refuse anyone, especially since you have no proof that the people you want to refuse, are doing anything illegal. It's just your prejudice.

A shop can refuse to sell to anyone they want, but they cannot violate civil rights of any individual.

So if you think 'natives' use hair spray and mouthwash to get high, be careful how you decide that. If you have no basis other than their culture or race (and of course you might be wrong going by looks), then you are breaking the law.

As for people buying mouthwash, I have seen drugstores keep a kind of protein drink behind the counter that has a bit of mouthwash alcohol in it and beef broth and vitamins. Maybe no one manufactures that anymore, I don't know. It was a chance to help alcoholics. There but for the grace of God go I and all that. What will turning them away do, if they are not stumbling drunk and obvious? No good at all. They will go elsewhere, but more than that, they will be more depressed and defeated and rejected than they already are.

As a cashier, ( and I could stereotype that job to death also) you are just an employee and you have no right to decide anything. You can talk to the owner of the store and see if they want to do something like that. My guess will be no, since the store would not want to be sued and would not want to lose all the other business.

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

As a cashier, ( and i could stereotype that job to death also) you are just an employee and you have no right to decide anything. You can talk to the owner of the store and see if they want to do something like that. My guess will be no, since the store would not want to be sued and would not want to lose all the other business.

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Hey now Chuck. I'm a cashier. :(

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Originally Posted by Alty

Hey now Chuck. I'm a cashier. :(

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It's OK... I think he was making the comment that you could pretty much stereotype anything... that's how I read it. I sell used cars... you want to talk about people stereotyping you based on what you do... whew.

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Originally Posted by odinn7

It's ok...I think he was making the comment that you could pretty much stereotype anything....that's how I read it. I sell used cars....you want to talk about people stereotyping you based on what you do.....whew.

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Do you own a plaid sports jacket?

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Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Do you own a plaid sports jacket?

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LOL!

SEE THAT?

Actually, I go against the stereotype. I am honest (too honest I am told) and I wear jeans and a t-shirt with my company name. No gold chains. No sports jackets. No toupees.

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Originally Posted by odinn7

No toupees.

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Are you bald or balding? (Those kinds of men are the most sexy.)

Nishnabes, indains call them whatever. To be honest I'm metis. I'm not racist? Anyway. I know they are drinking it because they are Severely inhebriated when they come to my until

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Originally Posted by lileeob

nishnabes, indains call them whatever. to be honest im metis. im not racist? anyways. i know they are drinkin it because they are SEVERLY inhebriated when they come to my til

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Then call your supervisor.

Actually, one man enganged into a drunken argument with me around the later hours of my shift. I'm glad I had all the other customers there , they even said they would have helped me if I needed it!! Jeeze you guys are really rude, I was only looking for some oponions on what someone else would do in my shoes. I'm not prejudice or racist, or whatever. It's a very known thing in my town, behind the tracks there is a huge hole in the ground... full of empty hair spray bottles and mouth wash containers...

Sorry it's hard for me to type in the dark! :(

Here's what gets me going, I'm also a bartender, and I know when I serve someone alcohol I owe them a duty of care. Isn't the same for selling them hair spray? What if they got into a accident or something happened to them? Wouldn't it be my fault for selling them that product knowing what they do with it?

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Originally Posted by lileeob

Wouldnt it be my fault for selling them that product knowing what they do with it?

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No... because the product is not designed to be used in that way and you are not expected to know what they are doing with it. There is no way you can truly know without any bit of doubt that when they buy it, it is only for drinking and not being used the way it is intended to be used.

You are putting way too much thought into this. You have already received plenty of good advice and answers here.

Does it make any different what so ever they are men buying hair spray bottles? Single men... anyway, none of this was helpful really but I'll continue to repress my awkward and negative feelings at the until. LOL

All I can say is that you talk to your supervisor about this. Other than that, what can you possibly do?

And you say this wasn't helpful but what did you want or expect? We told you how it is... should we have just lied to you instead? The fact is, you're a cashier... you don't make the rules. You don't get to decide who buys what and who doesn't. Beyond that, there isn't much of anything you can do... so how could we have been more helpful?